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1. Reader Scott Grant asks, “Is this the biggest game in Memphis football history?” Answer: No, of course not. It’s not as big as last year’s Navy game, for starters, when Memphis was 8-0 and a long-shot candidate to appear in the college football playoffs. But it’s still a massive game, a game that will define the rest of the season. Win and the Tigers will be 6-1 and might well be ranked in the Top 25 as they head into two winnable games against Tulsa and SMU. Lose and the Tigers will essentially be playing for bowl position. So, yes, it’s a critical game, if not close to the biggest in program history

2. Former University of Memphis trainer Frank Matrisciano appeared on 92.9 FM today with Jason Smith and John Martin and gave his side of his split with Josh Pastner. It’s old territory, at this point, but still revealing. “There was never any insubordination in anything I’ve done,” Matrisciano said. “You guys wrote it, it was said, but it never happened. I’ve always kept my word. When I went to Memphis, there were certain arrangements that had to be fulfilled that as we went on, it started to deteriorate. It was almost like me going into the Finch (Center) and watching Sideshow Bob.”

3. Matrisciano also took issue with the idea that he left because of a difference of philosophy with Pastner. “There was never any difference in philosophy,” he said. “If someone is a developer and designer of high-performance cars and someone else is just learning to be a flower arranger at a wedding, what foundation of knowledge would the person who is learning to do the flower arrangements come over and make comments to the guy who is making high- performance cars? How can you have a difference in philosophies? You have to have someone who has knowledge about the subject.”

4. In case you’re unclear, Matrisciano is the guy making high-performance cars in this example, Pastner is the flower arranger. And while Matrisciano said he doesn’t talk about Pastner at this point, and declined to comment when asked what he thinks of the coach, he said he wasn’t surprised by all the transfers. “It wasn’t anything that I didn’t know was going to happen,” he said. “Is it a coincidence that every player from that one class eventually transferred? That was going to happen regardless. It was inevitable, even for the fact I got phone calls from players as soon as I left there wanting to get out of there. I’m happy for players who have success. The players on their own decided to go to places, I’m happy for them.

5. Matrisciano also pitched his new client, Hasheem Thabeet, who is working to get back into the NBA. “The old Hasheem that everyone saw doesn’t exist,” he said. “He’s been here since May, he’s worked his tail off doing my stuff, which a lot of people can’t handle. It’s a whole different guy. ... He wasn’t the second pick in the draft for nothing. For NBA people not to take a look would be crazy. It reminds me of Hassan Whiteside. Anybody out there, Chris (Wallace), he’s unbelievable.”